Guy Martin, Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes

If you think the bicycle event that Guy Martin is contesting instead of this year’s NW200 and TT is a walk in the park by comparison, think again, writes John Watterson.

The Tour Divide is a 2,745-mile-long race traversing the Rockies from Canada to New Mexico.

It will involve being in the saddle for 20 hours each day for four weeks, with a four-hour nap at the side of the trail or road the only respite.

The race passes through the British Columbia and Alberta provinces in Canada, crossing the border into the US and heading through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and finally New Mexico.

Factor in the risk of wild bears and any amount of other nasties, and it almost makes a couple of road race meetings an easier option.

By comparison, the Tour de France averages around 2,200 miles over three weeks, mostly on decent roads.

The Tyco BMW star hasn’t discounted the possibility of racing in the Southern 100 this year, but says he will make a decision either during or straight after the big US challenge.

‘I may never want to ride a bike again after that lot,’ he admitted at Saturday evening’s annual dinner of the Southern 100 in the Best Western Hotel.

The Lincolnshire ace isn’t worried by the fact that he is missing a lot of racing this year and the possible loss of form at the sharp end.

‘I’m not worried at all. I don’t think you need to be on a bike all the time to remain competitive.

‘Look at Bruce Anstey, he chooses his events and that’s what I would be happy with that. There are plenty of other things to be doing in life than racing motorbikes.’

Guy recently went head-to-head on his Tyco BMW with David Coulthard and a Red Bull Formula One car for a soon-to-be-screened TV show.

‘It was a tough challenge, but I can’t say how it went. What I can say though is that David Coulthard’s family business may well be trucks, but he hasn’t got a grade one HGV licence like I have!’

Guy Martin apart, one of the genuine stars of the weekend was Tim Reeves’s 2015 Southern 100 Sidecar Championship winning passenger Mark Wilkes.

Apart from the Southern, the only other time the pair have competed together was a couple of meetings in New Zealand over the Christmas period.

But between the final two races of the mini series, they went sightseeing on a couple of solo road bikes.

Neither is quite sure what happened, as Tim was slightly ahead at the time and Mark cannot recall the accident that left him critically injured.

‘We were only doing about 50mph, but the next time I looked behind me Mark was nowhere to be seen,’ said six-time Sidecar World Champion Tim. ‘When I turned around I found that he had crashed.’

Mark was taken to hospital where six fractures to his neck were diagnosed, along with four breaks to his left femur.

He remained in a New Zealand hospital bed until early last week, when he was passed fit enough to travel back to the UK.

Insistent on making it to the Isle of Man for last Saturday’s Southern 100 dinner, he travelled to the island on Friday with his parents and Tim - receiving a huge reception from a packed dining room audience for the function.

‘My aim is to be fit enough to partner Tim in this year’s Southern 100 and hopefully defend our title,’ he said.

The Kent duo will have to contend with re-united locals Dave Molyneux and Dan Sayle if they are to retain the sidecar championship title.

The Manx pair are looking to better the 99.78mph record set by Nick Crowe and Dan in 1997 and become the first sidecar crew to record a 100mph lap at the Southern 100.

‘The Billown record is way overdue,’ said Moly. ‘It is very achievable on the right day.

‘I’d like to tick that box.’